About Us
My research spans the fields of history and philosophy of biology, science and technology studies and general philosophy of science (in particular of science practices such as data sharing, abstraction, modelling and concept-formation). I hold a BSc in History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science from University College London, an MSc in History and Philosophy of Science from the London School of Economics and a PhD in Philosophy of Science from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where carried out my doctoral research as part of the project ‘Understanding Scientific Understanding’. My PhD analysed the ways in which biologists manipulate and conceptualise model organisms (and particularly the plant Arabidopsis thaliana) to gain some understanding of biological phenomena, thus allowing me to combine a historical survey with a sociological analysis of this kind of ‘big science’, leading to a philosophical discussion of what it means to understand scientifically. Before arriving in Exeter, I worked as a research officer in the Leverhulme/ESRC project ‘How Well Do ‘Facts’ Travel?’ based at the Department of Economic History of the London School of Economics. Participation in this project enabled me to investigate what happens when small facts such as data circulate across research contexts and are used as evidence towards a variety of claims about phenomena. This awoke my interest in data sharing practices and in the role played by digital tools and standards in ‘packaging’ small facts for travel.
From 2002 to 2007, I have served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Graduate Journal of Social Science. I currently serve on the boards of the Society for the Philosophy of Science in Practice, the journal History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, and the plant community GARNet. I am also involved in the co-ordination of the UK Network for Integrated History and Philosophy of Science (meeting annually), the European Advanced Seminar in the Philosophy of the Life Sciences (meeting biannually) and the project 'Knowledge/Value' led by Kaushik Sunder Rajan at the University of Chicago.